Improved rail for railways



JAMES F. ORANSTON, OF SPRINGFIELD, .MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, T.l CURTIS, AND J. W. LABUREE, OF SAME PLACE.

Letters .Patent No. 91,719, dated June 22, 1869.

IRIPROVED RAIL FOR RAILWAYS.

The Schedule referred' to in these Letters Patentand making part of the Bami- To all whom it ma/y concern Be it known that I, JAMES F. CRANSTON, of Springfield, in the county of Hampden, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improved Rail for Railways; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had 'to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which- Figure l-is a plan view of one modification of my invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section through line H I of iig.'3;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same;

Figure 4 is av vertical transverse section through line U V of g. 5, showing another modication of my'invention; and

Figure 5 is a plan view, showing the same modifi. cation.

My invention relates to the rail used in the construction of railways; and consists in the arrangement and construction of the same, whereby blocks, or pieces of wood, are used in connection with iron, in such manner that the wood serves as a bearing, or furnishes a bearing-surface for the wheels of the railway-carriages, while the iron portion of the rail serves to secure the wood in position, and protect it, and also serves as a bearing for the wood.

lo enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construetion, and the mode of its operation.

In the drawings- A A represent half rails, or longitudinal portions of a rail, the plane of whose side, o, and base,l o', may form a little more than a right angle, so that when said half rails yare placed together, or are placed with their base upon a flat surface, with their sides o near each other, said sides may converge, or approach each other as they extend upward.

A third rail, E, having the side-flanges e, and the upper portion e', which portion may be of the same form, or whose sides may have the same inclination as the sides o of the part A, is laid upon the ties or sleepers, and the hall` rails are laid so that the sides o may be contiguous to and parallel with the sides of the centre rail E, and solaid that the joints between `the half rails, upon one side of the centrerail E, shall alternate with the joints upon the other side of said centre rail E. This arrangement forms a continuous rail, having a longitudinal groove or channel along the top, said channel being narrowest at the top.

Blocks of wood, B, of the same form, in cross-section, as said groove or channel, are then laid into said channel, and upon the top of the part e', and the whole is then secured together by means of the bolts f, passing through elongatedholes made for that purpose, said bolts passing through the two side-rails and the Vcent1-e rail c.

The blocks of wood may be made of well-seasoned and suiiiciently hard wood, and may be saturated with a solution of tar, or a suitable preparation of the same, or prepared by any of the well-known processes for the purpose ofrendering the wood impervious to water and the action of the weather; and they may be of any suitable length, and of suiiicient depth to project a short distance above the iron, say three-eighths or one-half inch above, and should be madefto tit the groove or channel properly.

As wood will not contract and expand very perceptibly by the influence of heat and cold, or, at least, not sufliciently to cause any considerable opening between the blocks, it is.evident that the blocks B may be laid in the groove so that their ends may nearly touch each other, and they will thus form a continuons and uninterrupted bearing for the wheels of a car.

Instead of using a centre rail, I may make the main rail to consist only of two parts, or of two half rails only, the line of division being indicated by the red line g, in fig. 2, and in either modication the sides of the groove or channel, for the reception of the blocks VB, may bemade perpendicular to its base, or nearly so, andthe blocks may also be made of the same form, as indicated by the red lines in iig. 2 and the blocks being laid in place, the two parts of the rail may be bolted together by means of the bolts h, (shown also in red lines in fig. 2,) passing through elou gated holes, and the said bolts may thus be made to secure the blocks B rmly in place.

In either modification, worn-ont blocks may be easily removed by loosening the bolts, new ones sub# stitnted, and the bolts tightened again, as before.

In this construction of a rail, as herein described, there is great saving in repairing the track, as it is' well known that the inside of the rail, against which the inside of the wheel runs at a curve in .the road, wears out iirst, and, in replacing such worn rails, it is only necessary to remove the inside half, or portion which is worn, and replace it by a new portion, thus saving one-half the rail.

By either construction, the two sides or two halves of the rail maybe made to break joints,? as in lig. 5, and furnishing a continuous rail, which may be secured to the ties or sleepers by means of the chairs now in common use, or by any other suitable means.

If the blocks B are placed in the groove or channel, with the grain of the wood perpendicular, or nearly so, to the base of the groove, theyl will be found to last much longer, and will wear for a long time with out removal.

In the modication having the dovetail form of groove or channel, the blocks of wood will be retained in place by the shape of the groove, while, if the sides of the groove or channel be perpendicular to the base,

' said blocks will be retained in place by the pressure of the rails against the said blocks.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A compound continuous rail for railways, consisting of longitudinal portionsvor halves of .a rail or rails, secured together, and having a longitudinal groove or channel in the upper part, in which are placed blocks of Wood, substantially as herein described.

2. The connecting-rail A, having the wood B therein, and with the socketsor chairsD thereon, the whole operating in connection with the main rail, and constructed substantially as herein described.

JAMES F. CRANSTON.

Witnesses:

S. G. BURNHAM, C. A. EMERY. 

